thropological division. the site was found in an area of jungle that covered an area larger than luxembourg. it was named meaning stoned column in the mayan language. they are finding huge cities that were connected with el salvador and it is a historical find. that wraps up the hour. i will see you on nbc "nightly news" saturday. you can reach me at jdbalart and you can watch highlights from today's show online. the great andrea mitchell picks up with more news right now. and right now on ""andrea mitchell reports," one year after the supreme court overturned roe v. wade our new nbc poll finds 61% of voters

disapprove of the decision. as republican 2024 candidates line up today at a d.c. forum to court evangelical conservatives with their anti-abortion credentials. >> the battle for life is far from over. we have not come to the end of our cause. we have simply come to the end of the beginning. >> we have to start with tomorrow's anniversary and thank god almighty for the dobbs decision. absolutely. also, a navy sonar heard the catastrophic implosion of the oceangate submersible less than two hours into its dive. experts say it must have immediately killed all five people on board, but the navy says it had to continue the search for four more days until they had visual sighting of the debris just to be sure. as families mourn, what is the future of deep sea exploration? and was safety compromise it by the daring mission?

and hunter biden days after agreeing to a misdemeanor plea deal joining his family at the gala state dinner only hours after house republicans released testimony from irs employees, including a charge not substantiated by nbc news that hunter involved his father before he became president in a fishy deal with china. ♪ ♪ good day, everyone. i'm andrea mitchell in washington. republicans running for president are all trying to polish their anti-abortion credentials with conservative evangelicals, and the faith and freedom coalition conference today, speaking out against abortion and against same-sex marriage. among the speakers today, mike pence, asa hutchinson and tim scott. earlier pence called on all candidates to support a nationwide abortion ban at 15 weeks. >> every republican candidate for president should support a ban on abortion before 15 weeks

as a minimum nationwide standard. joining me from the conference, nbc news 2024 and capitol hill correspondent ali vitali. mike pence clearly making a play for the evangelical vote, important for iowa with its stance on abortion and, of course, drawing a contrast with donald trump and other contenders saying trump is not anti-abortion enough. >> reporter: yeah, that's exactly right. it is one of the fault lines that is emerging here, andrea, in this primary is you have some of the candidates trying to avoid specifics around their abortion policy. i'm thinking for example of the former president himself who both takes credit for the fall of the roe precedent and says there can be some kind of deal or consensus found when it comes to where the week mile-marker should be on this. contrast that, of course, with his former running mate and now

rival mike pence who took the stage here a little while ago to say every other republican running for this nomination should back an abortion ban at 15 weeks. that is something that off camera after he spoke on stage senator josh hawley said he would think that should be easy for everybody in this field, but, of course, it is not, in part because some of them are looking not just at the primary where, of course, they should have to appeal to voting blocs like evangelical voters like you see here but also because once they get to a general this becomes a very thorny policy position for them. as poll after poll continues to show that restrictions on abortion are out of step with what the majority of americans would like to see here when it comes to reproductive access. >> and, ali, let's talk about how this is all playing because in a general election this is obviously going to be a problem with them. the democrats are, you know, savoring this republican primary focus on abortion given our polling. >> reporter: yeah. democrats are savoring it, but

also they come to a point where they watched the numbers work in their favor in 2022. you and i both know republican strategists expected it to be a red wave year for them. instead, democrats were able to retain many of the seats that they thought they could have lost, and it is why someone like senator gary peters, who is once again leading the senate campaign arm for democrats in a very tough cycle, the map is difficult for them, but it is his lived experience as well as his political know-how that he shared with me that makes him a person sort of primed for this moment of the intersection of reproductive access and politics. this is why -- here is his personal story with abortion. >> i went to the hospital board to get permission. there's no way this baby will survive but there's a faint heartbeat, there's a policy against that. but i'm really worried for your health. you could lose a uterus, it could go septic, i can't perform this procedure. my advice to you is find a doctor in a hospital immediately that can do this. so we luckily had a friend who

was an administrator at another hospital who got us in immediately to the -- really the department chief. he looked at her, examined her and he said i need to do this procedure immediately or you are going to lose your uterus and if we wait it could go septic and you could lose your life. >> reporter: look, the story that peter shares there happened nearly 40 years ago, but in my reporting ahead of the one-year anniversary of the dobbs decision i heard from other women who had the exact same experience, especially in states like texas where because of the rules that are now on the books they had to get worse. their health had to be endangered in order for them to get the abortion care that they needed and sought. it is a story many legislators on the democrat side are going to continue to push and share and for peters it puts him really at this nexus and at this moment ahead of 2024. >> and stand by, ali, because joining us now, brandon buck, former communication advisor to speakers ryan and boener and jen psaki, host of "inside with jen

psaki" here on msnbc noon sunday, noon eastern. abortion may help in the primary, but, again, for republicans, isn't it going to hurt them in the general election with 61% of those polled by nbc in our poll just out today disagreeing with the supreme court's ruling a year ago? >> yeah, there's an enormous gulf between what republican-based voters are going to demand of candidates and what a general election electorate is willing to accept, and that's going to be a difficult issue. i think a lot of republican candidates have simply struggled with figuring out where is the safe place that can keep you viable. it is really interesting how mike pence is really trying to go on offense on this. you know, mike pence -- for mike pence, abortion is not just a political issue. i spent a lot of time around him, particularly when he was in the house. it is intensely personal for him. this is a bed rock principle for him. so i don't think he really cares whether or not the politics are

good, but, of course, we can't dismiss that. i think he sees his fellow candidates sort of twisting in the wind on this and he sees an opportunity. i don't know if there's actually a path to winning the nomination purely on the abortion issue, but it at least is someplace where he can differentiate himself and sort of go on offense because, frankly, the politics of abortion right now, the status quo is not working for republicans and perhaps he thinks there needs to be some way to shake it up, maybe go on offense a little bit. i don't know if it is a winning strategy but we know the status could seems to be a losing one. >> jen psaki, you spoke to former house speaker nancy pelosi about a lot of things including abortion, and including, you know, the whole issue of donald trump and his claims on this. i want to listen to this first and we'll come out on the other side. >> donald trump is taking credit for the dobbs' decision many times, even recently posting, quote, "i was able to kill roe v. wade much to the shock of

everyone." is this something you think democrats should be hanging around his neck more? >> yeah. because, first of all, it is an hypocrisy of the first order, but without going into his, shall we say, inconsistencies to use a gentler word, yeah, that's what he is saying. i think that that's -- has clarity. there are people in our country and i respect their view on the issue of a woman's right to abortion, but these same people in the congress, eight of them voted for a woman having a right to contraception, eight. i think it was three maybe or so voted for women to be able to travel to have access to reproductive health. so make no mistake there's -- there is clarity on their side on this issue. it is wrong, but it is red meat to their base. >> that's so fascinating, jen. >> yeah, i mean we talked about

abortion. we talked about the house republicans and what we saw this week. we talked about donald trump and certainly about her husband, paul pelosi, and how he is doing. but what was striking about what she was saying there about the abortion issue as it relates to the politics, and we saw this in the nbc poll. you mentioned the 60%. 80% of women between 18 and 49 in that poll believe that -- oppose the dobbs decision. what she was saying in her answer there is that regardless of what donald trump has said or hasn't said about an abortion ban, he is somebody who democrats should run against as opposing women's rights, opposing women's access to health care. so even as we are watching the republican primary play out with a range of positions, whether it is the number of weeks saying it should go back to the states, which i asked her about as well, her point is they're not giving women protections. they're not protecting women's fundamental rights that have been the law of the land for 50 years. that is the message. that is how we should be talking about it as we look to 2024 there and that's clearly the way

the democrats will be talking about it. brandon and jen and ali, i want to play something that just happened there at the faith and freedom colipgs. chris christie got booed. it is the first time he has tested his campaign strategy of going up against donald trump. he is the only one who is doing it that vigorously. he said that donald trump had failed the republican party. let's watch. >> i'm running because he's let us down. he has let us down because he is unwilling, he is unwilling to take responsibility for any of the mistakes that were made, any of the faults that he has and any of the things that he has done, and that is not leadership, everybody. that is a failure of leadership. >> boo! >> boo! >> you can boo all you want. >> brendan, did that strategy work? >> well, credit to chris christie for going in there and

doing that and saying that. >> absolutely. >> i think what won't work is just letting things go on the direction they're headed. so i give him credit for stepping in there, but it shows what chris christie and all of them are up against. this is a president who despite his long sort of twisted history on the issue of abortion, people see him much more as a leader of a movement, a leader of, frankly, a culture war than anything else. people don't back away from that very easily. so, you know, i think that demonstrates that chris christie has a long way to go, but nothing is going to change unless people start doing that in the first place. it is going to be an ugly process if you are going to dethrone somebody who has been the head of the party for so long. i imagine that might scare off a few people, but i would argue it is quite necessary. >> well, it is certainly showing some guts at that conference today. ali vitali, brendan buck, jen psaki, thanks to all of you. of course, this sunday you can

see a lot more of jen's great interview with speaker emerita nancy pelosi. watch "inside with jen psaki" right here on msnbc at noon eastern on sunday. the tragedy at sea. five killed in a catastrophic implosion and now big questions about how things went horribly wrong and why. that's next when ""andrea mitchell reports," back in just 60 seconds. stay with us. you are watching msnbc and the congestion that causes it! flonase headache and allergy relief. psst! psst! all good!

the debris is consistent with a catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber. >> a horrifying ending to what was supposed to be a once-in-a-lifetime adventure to see the titanic on the ocean floor. the u.s. coast guard says that the titan submersible suffered a catastrophic event with no survivors an hour and 45 minutes into its dive. u.s. navy sensors heard what is now believed to be the implosion on sunday and notified incident

command, but the navy is telling nbc news that without conclusive visual evidence the multi-nation search had to continue. it is just one of several questions including the composite metal used on the craft that are being raised today as investigators try to piece together a timeline for the catastrophic end of the mission. nbc news has confirmed the coast guard is going to lead the investigation into the disaster aided by the ntsb. nbc's christen dahlgren joins us live from boston and oceanographer and deep sea explorer david gallow as well. christen, you have been there from the beginning. what are the theories. >> reporter: while it was a rescue operation for so many days, those ships on the sea have begun to head back towards the port in can baugh, but there are still remote-operated vehicles searching for answers

here. we do know that the military picked up this anomaly on sunday. it was consistent with some type of explosion or implosion around the time that the submersible lost communication. they're looking at that. they are also now doing this investigation and it will be headed up by the coast guard as you said with the assistance of the ntsb, trying to piece this all together. so that involves continuing to look at the debris field. keep in mind a lot of the things we have been talking about over the past few days about how difficult it is to conduct any type of search at that depth will now apply to that. so it is still unclear whether they would be able to bring pieces of that submersible up to the surface for analysis. they're looking at that carbon fiber hull, looking for pieces of it to see what state it is in. so that's where the investigation is now, trying to determine what happened, but the u.s. will be taking the lead in that, andrea.

>> and we had an interview, nbc news had an interview with the aunt of the young man who died with his father, pakistani businessman. so tragically, let me play that for you. >> he had a sense that this was not -- this was not okay and he just -- he was not very comfortable about doing it. to know that he didn't feel a moment's pain, that his brain didn't even realize, that's really -- >> kristen, he didn't want to go. he was just trying to please his dad. >> reporter: right. you know, the family is saying perhaps some comfort in this outcome versus thinking about them, you know, running out of air. but, still, just an excruciating time for the families. it was a 19-year-old man.

he was in university and he said to his aunt that he was terrified to go but it was father's day on sunday, and this was something that he wanted to do for his dad who was, you know, a long-time fanatic about the titanic and was so interested and fascinated by it. it was his dad's dream to go down, and so he accompanied his dad and really just a difficult for all of those families, and our hearts go out to them. >> david gallow, you helped map this area of the sea where the debris was found about 1600 feet from the titanic bow we understand. talk about this area and how teams will conduct a forensic study on the sea floor. >> well, high, andrea. the sea floor is fairly smooth and flat and not far from the titanic debris field, and you can use robotics to be very methodical about going back and forth across the sea floor like

mowing a lawn. with things like high-resolution cameras and lidar, laser imaging, you can map the very fine details and pick out things that belong to the submarine, for instance, and things that belong on the sea floor. it is very possible to do that. >> you also worked with james cameron, of course, the "titanic" director who dived to that wreck 33 different times. he says that the same hubris that sent titanic to its end with the captain of the ship ignoring the marconi warning, was also evidence here. let's play what james cameron had to say. >> that ship's lying at the bottom of the ocean not because of the nature of its steel or the nature of its compartments but just because of bad seamanship. the captain was barned there were -- the captain was warned there were icebergs ahead and he plowed ahead for whatever reason. i think there was greed and glory in it, and here we are at

the same place. there is one wreck lying next to the other wreck for the same reason. >> i mean, he was saying that the composite used and ignoring some safety protocols led to this tragedy. do you agree? >> yeah, well, i think that's the obvious. that's the most obvious conclusion. we'll have to wait until the forensic studies are done, but that certainly is the way things are leaning right now. i am sure there are other causes so we'll have to see. >> just quickly explain, instead of using steel which was used on the navy subs, our subs, on this submersible they used a composite with titanium. the theory is that it could not handle the pressure, that it started separating or it might have had stress fractures because they had done so many previous dives with it. >> yes. well, that composite is very strong and tension when you pull

it apart, but, of course, the sea is squeezing things together in compression, and it is really not designed for that. but it was put together in such a way that it should have been, you know, and there will be a lot of -- a very good look at that to find out if that was studies in the proper way to make this as safest. having all of the tests in the world doesn't preclude having an implosion, it happens, but you want to minimize the risks. i think a lot of attention will be paid to that, did they really minimize every risk in this case. >> kristen dahlgren and david gallow, thanks so much to both of you. abortion in america. one year after the supreme court struck down roe v. wade. we will look at the next targets for anti-abortion activists in the states, and what those who support abortion rights are doing to try to protect the procedure where it is still legal. you are watching "andrea

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this saturday marks one year since the supreme court's big decision overturning roe v. wade. on the anniversary of the dobbs decision, a new nbc news poll shows 61% of voters disapprove of the overturning of the national right to abortion. nbc news chief white house correspondent and co-anchor of "weekend today" kristen welker

looks into how efforts are being refined at the national and grassroots level. >> reporter: for half a century anti-abortion activists were united around a singular goal, overturning roe v. wade. >> hi, hi, ho, ho, roe v. wade has got to go. >> reporter: one year after the constitutional right to an abortion was struck down, activists in the anti-abortion rights movement are speaking out about the future, including carol tobias, president of the national right to life committee. >> i can't believe how fast this year has gone. so much has happened. we are no protecting as many of those unborn children as we would like, but we have the opportunities -- we have a lot of opportunities ahead of us. >> reporter: and kristen hawkins, president of students for life of america. >> i think just for this generation to be able to see this whole seismic shift take place, i don't even think the whole -- i don't think the

cultural change has even yet been measured from just that one decision. >> reporter: while these advocates say they are still united in their primary goal to end abortion services nationwide, there are divisions about how to achieve that aim. >> if you don't believe abortion is a federal issue, you have no business running for federal office. >> i think going for any kind of national ban at this stage is not possible, even if you are looking at something like 12 or 15 weeks. there's not the support for that kind of legislation. >> reporter: the divide creating a patchwork of approaches. the challenge now, refining a strategy. >> it is federal, it is state and it is community, and that is where we engage, whether it is on campuses, changing hearts and minds, whether it is in the community promoting nonviolent alternatives for families and mothers in crisis, or whether it is here in washington or in the state capital. >> reporter: real world factors about the impact of abortion restrictions on women's health care pose serious questions.

a 2020 study from the commonwealth fund which supports independent research on health care issues found that in states where abortion is restricted the maternal death rate was 62% higher than in states with access to abortion care. how does that impact you to hear that figure? >> i'm appalled that the numbers are as high as they are in the united states. we need to do better, but that does not justify or cannot be used as an excuse to kill more unborn children. >> joining me now is the former president of planned parenthood federation of america, cecile richards. she is now co-chair of the american bridge pak. and danielle howard, dean. as you look back over the last year since the supreme court overturned roe v. wade, what is your biggest concern? >> my biggest concern, andrea, is what has happened to women and women's health. it has been devastating from the

beginning and we are only now beginning to understand how severe the impact is. the kaiser family foundation just came out with what i think is a devastating report on the number. two-thirds of ob/gyns saying their ability to deal with complications in pregnancy have been severely reduced. these are women who have up topic pregnancy, women who are miscarrying. we are seeing an increase of women asking for sterilization because they're so afraid of getting pregnant. and just recently as we saw this new -- you know, new generation of ob/gyns even in my home state of texas, there's a 19% decrease in people taking ob/gyn residencies in texas. in texas already half of the counties have no, no ob/gyn. so this is not just a today impact. this is going to be a long-range impact on the health and

well-being of women in america. >> danielle, with the new nbc news poll showing overwhelming support for abortion rights in this country, do you think this has contributed to the diminished respect for the supreme court? what are the implications of that? you are a law professor and you are a dean. >> absolutely. i think that the supreme court is really in institutional crisis. we see questions about ethics including the recent reports this week about samuel alito's trip with a billionaire going fishing all the way to justice thomas's ethics. if you look back, this crisis in confidence in the court started with a lot of the confirmation battles that we've had, but the dobbs decision made a huge impact on the way people think, especially young people and people of child-bearing years, but really all of us, the way that we see the court. the overturning of a 50-year precedent with the stroke of a pen gives people a lot of nervousness about what is the agenda of the supreme court and how much will the supreme court do to disturb the everyday lives

of people. what we see in that package, women not being able to get basic reproductive rights and health care and that the supreme court really has the power to do that, it scarce a lot of people about the power and the breadth of what the supreme court agenda is. >> cecile, what about the things that the biden administration is trying to do by executive action? there are lawsuits challenging that state by state. >> yeah, the biden administration is doing everything possible and the vice president as well. just such an advocate. this is a state-by-state fight, but i think as we all know this issue, whether this country will continue to allow legal abortion anywhere is going to be decided in this presidential race. what i think what has really been interesting to me over the last year is what we have seen confirmed and even strengthened is this is a country that supports abortion rights. this is not a country that wants

politicians making decisions about people's pregnancies. this is a thing that i can't believe the republican party, they're not only refusing to acknowledge that, understanding, they're doubling down. we saw ron desantis signing a six-week abortion ban in the state of florida and they're continuing this aggressive effort to take away the rights of women state by state even though it is clear even in the most conservative states like kansas, it is clear that this is not what the person people want. >> danielle, the abortion pill is also in jeopardy in terms of the attempts to stop a pill that's been used for 20 years. where do you see that coming down? >> you know, this has become an incredibly important question because we know that after dobbs one of the things that we've seen is many people are getting abortions through medication instead of surgical abortions. in fact, there are some reports there's almost a 60% increase in the search for medications for abortion. so that means that decision

becomes incredibly important to abortion access around the country because many women who can't get surgical abortions in their own states need to seek out the abortion pill in order to get an abortion at all or have access to abortion at all. >> and as we get towards the end of the month of june and start heading into july, there's some big cases still pending, affirmative action. >> yes, absolutely. we have ten cases still pending before the supreme court. student debt, independent state legislature and, the biggest, of course, is the affirmative action cases, the two against unc, university of north carolina, and harvard. we are looking for many of them yesterday or today. it looks like we are waiting until next week. this will be a blockbuster opinion impacting selective colleges and universities in the country. the colleges and universities that turn out most of our leaders, and so the question of whether there will be the ability of colleges and university to use race i think

is a big question that will have as big an impact as dobbs. >> and our military academies as well. >> absolutely. our military academies will be hugely affected and so everyone is on the edge of their seats waiting for the supreme court to make these decisions. >> danielle, it is great to have you here. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> and cecile richards, as always. too soon? hunter biden raising eyebrows by attending a white house state dinner days after entering a federal plea agreement. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports." this is msnbc. footlong, get one 50% off in the subway app today. now that's a deal worth celebrating. man, what are you doing?! get it before it's gone on the subway app. ♪♪ pepcid complete works fast and lasts for powerful heartburn relief.

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just days after hunter biden reached a plea agreement on two tax-related charges, the president's son attended the white house state dinner last night along with the entire extended biden family honoring india's prime minter modi along with attorney general merrick garland among the cabinet guests and house speaker kevin mccarthy. mccarthy telling reporters the house gop will keep investigating the president's son, clearly not considering that case close. this as the house ways and means committee released irs employee testimony suggesting that hunter biden might have involved his father in a business deal before his father became president. kelly o'donnell and former u.s. attorney barbara mccray. kelly, hunter biden made the public appearance last night, which is customary for family members to go to state dinners, but given the timing raised

eyebrows. >> reporter: that's how you are to look at this andrea. certainly no one would be surprised family members part of the first family would be part of a gala event, a rare event at the white house like a state dinner from we have seen that time and time again. the question here is that the attorney general was on the guest list and the potential for any kind of interaction, the appearance of that, and the fact just in proximity, it was a couple of days after the announcement of a plea deal. that case, although resolved from an investigative point of view according to hunter biden's lawyers, is still going through the process. he has his court appearance next month and so forth. on the one hand you could say it is the family being together, sharing in a special night. on the other, perhaps it raises more questions about their decisionmaking when it comes to appearances. would it have been simpler to simply not be at this event even though other family members were there? it is a choice they made and we see they're embracing hunter biden in these public settings.

andrea. >> and, of course, merrick garland as a cabinet member would be invited in any case. there were 400 people there. it was a pretty big dinner. barbara, the whistleblower testimony is from two irs agents who say that the doj and other government officials improperly interfered in their hunter biden investigation, giving hunter biden preferential treatment. there's been a lot of pushback against that. it was a trump appointee, a u.s. attorney who was held over, it was kept outside of doj, but what do you think about that? we are not verified it. it is based on a whatsapp. we don't know the verive kafgs verification of that. we don't know if hunter was exaggerating, whether it was authentic when he said my father is here with me, and it is when joe biden was not in office, between the vice presidency and the presidency. >> i found that statement flimsy to be something to build an investigation. it is puffery by hunter biden.

>> excuse me. merrick garland is speaking but not talking about hunter biden. let's see. >> that he was told not to pursue the hunter biden investigation, not to bring charges in 2022. you said previously you stayed out of the hunter biden investigation. it has been on david weiss to figure it out. can you once and for all shed a little light? there seems to be confusion on what is going on here. >> i would be happy to. as i said at the outset mr. weiss was appointed by president trump as the u.s. attorney in delaware and assigned this matter during the previous administration, would be permitted to continue his investigation and to make a decision to prosecute anyway in which he wanted to and in any district in which he wanted to. mr. weiss sent a letter to the judiciary committee confirming he had that authority. i don't know how it would be possible for anyone to block him bringing this prosecution given

he has this authority. >> he was never told no. >> i would say he was given complete authority to make all decisions on his own. >> reporter: mr. garland, just to follow up on that, one of the allegations of the irs supervise coefficient of restitutions apparently made involved the fact that mr. weiss reportedly wanted to have powers that you conferred on special counsels. was that request ever made? if so, did you -- why did you reject it? >> it was not. the only person with authority to make somebody a special counselor refuse to make somebody a special counsel is the attorney general. mr. weiss never made that request to me. >> reporter: just to follow up on that, can you explain the rational for not appointing special counsel in this case? >> mr. weiss had, in fact, more authority than a special counsel would have. he had and has complete authority, as i said, to bring a case anywhere he wants in his

discretion. >> question? >> reporter: just a non-topic question. what do these indictments actually do -- i have an on-topic as well. >> of course. >> reporter: what does these do to stop these -- >> and merrick garland saying david weiss, the u.s. attorney in delaware, a trump appointee held over to handle this case, had total authorities on prosecutions and never requested the special counsel. clearly didn't think it was necessary and had more authority than that. barbara, is that a fair summation? >> it is. i think one thing that's really important merrick garland just said there, he actually had more authority than a special counsel has. he gave him complete authority. a special counsel is subject to review by the attorney general who may overrule a special counsel if he believes that his recommendations are outside the norm of the justice department authority. hear i heard him say he had

authority over the case. unless somebody think hunter biden was given preferential treatment, keep in mind there's a check even on the discretion of u.s. attorney david weiss -- >> barbara, i have to interrupt you quickly again. here is merrick garland, another question. >> reporter: that he had the ultimate authority to charge and where to charge. but on the specific allegations that these whistleblowers brought forward, i think there's very detailed allegations. would you authorize him to answer to some of the more specific allegations that these irs whistleblowers have come forward with? >> look, i would support mr. weiss explaining or testifying in these matters when he deems it appropriate. >> one more question. in the front. >> reporter: mr. attorney general, republicans in congress have flirted with the idea of holding the fbi director in contempt. it has become a talking point on the campaign trail, the alleged crux in the fbi and other law enforcement agencies.

do the american people have cause to be concerned about the integrity of this justice department and what do you have to say about how they're reacting? >> i certainly understand that some have chosen to attack the integrity of the justice department as components and its employees by claiming we do not treat like cases alike. this constitutes an attack on an institution that is essential to american democracy and essential to the safety of the american people. nothing could be further from the truth. you have all heard me say many times we make our cases based on the facts and the law. these are not just words. these are what we live by. they are the foundation of the way we make these decisions. the agents of the fbi as well as the dea, the atf, deputy u.s. marshals, every day often at great personal risk protect the

american people and secure its safety. our cases are based on their work. i could not be more proud to work with them. >> thank you, everyone. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> a vigorous defense by merrick garland of the fbi and the department of justice. barbara mccray, we have been talking about this and you are so familiar with the pressure they've been under from house republicans that with the specific question as well as whether david weiss could testify if asked, the u.s. attorney, and he said that's up to him. if he wants to, he can. >> yeah, which i think is the appropriate answer. he also said at the time he believes is appropriate. this case is still pending. david weiss has said the investigation is still ongoing, which may simply because of the deferred prosecution agreement with hunter biden regarding the gun charge. but until this case is done, sentenced, judgment is final, it would be inappropriate for any prosecutor to talk about it because it could compromise the

investigation. and so as i was saying earlier, it seems that this trump-appointed u.s. attorney had complete authority to handle this case. that should give him some credibility. but to the extent anyone remains skeptical, keep in mind that this case still has to go before the court. hunter biden is going to have to go on the record and put his factual basis on the record, and then the judge gets to see all of the material that is the basis for this guilty plea. so to the extent there was anything done here that was either too lenient or too harsh, the judge has the ability to accept or reject this plea agreement. >> what do you think of those who say that if his name were not biden it wouldn't even have gone this far, that many people who don't pay their tax else just pay the back taxes and a fine and don't face the misdemeanor charge? >> i say two things about that. one is i agree. in my former office if somebody simply had unpaid taxes, that matter would be dealt with but civilly. they would be allowed to pay it back with phones, with penalties and it would be handled in that

way. this gun charge about possessing a gun while addicted to drugs by his own admission for a period of two weeks would not rise to the level of any federal prosecution. we would simply decline that. there would be no criminal charges whatsoever. on the other hand, the second point is i don't think we know all of the facts. based on what we have seen here it seems like a more harsh disposition than most people would get. sometimes cases are involved because of factual issues or potential challenges. perhaps there's a constitutional challenge to the gun charge here the government would so typically compromises are made so there's a resolution favorable to both parties that both parties can agree with. this is what david weiss has chosen, that will be overseen by a judge. >> barbara mcquade, and i apologize for all the interruptions but that's live breaking news with the attorney general who doesn't speak that often, especially not on these subjects and kelly o'donnell, of course, our colleague and friend at the white house, thanks to both of you.

and ready to roll, just weeks after a deadly accident closed down a critical stretch of i-95 in philadelphia, a new temporary roadway is ready to reopen. it's an amazing progress report, we'll have it for you in a moment. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. rts" on msnbc. wayfair's got just what you need... performance fabrics, stains don't stand a chance. no chance! -woo! dog friendly and wallet friendly... pug-proved. get nice things with nice prices at wayfair. ♪ wayfair, you've got just what i need ♪ what are folks 60 and older up to these days? getting inspired! volunteering! playing pickleba...!

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that melted down just two weeks ago when a gasoline tanker overturned is over months sooner than expected. thanks to the coordinated effort, this is amazing, led by the governor in the state's department of transportation with the feds helping out as well. the destroyed stretch of highway is reopening this hour, rebuilt temporarily on top of landfill after only a few weeks. nbc's emilie ikeda has been covering this story for us. what a massive effort this was by the public and the private sector to get this major stretch of highway repaired so quickly. >> reporter: yeah, absolutely, an all hands on deck effort. we are watching the traffic begin to flow. officials anticipated this process to take a matter of months. then the estimate turned into weeks. now it's just a matter of days. it's been 12 days since we saw that tanker carrying 8,500 gallons of gasoline crash and explode into flames causing the partial collapse of the roadway

behind me, and now you can see traffic is moving over my shoulder, at least on the southbound lanes. we were up there earlier today. there are three lanes in both directions newly paved, and they're sitting atop this kind of material i'm holding in my hand, it's recycled glass aggregate, nearly 2,000 tons of it supporting new lanes. governor shapiro newly inaugurated just five months on the job taking a victory lap earlier this morning. take a listen here. >> this was a moment of civic pride for philly and pennsylvania. we all came together and we showed that when times get hard, pennsylvanians show up for one another. and we showed that when we work together, we can get [ bleep ] done here in pennsylvania. we sure can. >> that's kind of south philly talk. >> reporter: and of course it was -- of course it was the philadelphia mascots who led that -- the first cars across

the bridge there, andrea. also, remember this is just a temporary roadway. officials say they estimate the permanent overpass to take months to rebuild. >> still home sick for philly, let me see those mascots one more time coming up on that open truck, oh, the fire truck, even better. love that story. thanks so much, emilie ikeda. thanks for being there. >> reporter: you bet. and coming up, the battle over ukraine, a close up look at just how numbered and outgunned the ukrainian air force is compared to their russian adversaries. that's next. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports." this is msnbc. and save on every perk. sadie is moving to the big city and making moves on her plan, too. apple one, on. now she's got plenty of entertainment for the whole ride. finally there! hot spot, on. and she's fully connected before her internet is even installed. (sadie) hi, mom!

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over t-mobile, at&t and verizon. and right now, get up to $1000 off select samsung phones. switch today. ukraine's air force says that it shot down 13 russian cruise missiles overnight, an impressive feat for a military drastically outnumbered by the russians and december are pratt for american f-16s. nbc news foreign correspondent raf sanchez had an exclusive seat on a ukrainian combat aircraft flying near bakhmut. >> reporter: two weeks that their long awaited counteroffensive, ukraine's forces are facing fierce russian resistance and making slow progress on the ground. part of the problem, they're badly outgunned in the air. russia's fighter aircraft are far more advanced, and there are far more of them. a comparison shows ukraine

outnumbered 15 to 1 on both jets and attack hhelicopters. we traveled to a clearing in the woods in the east that's doubling as a ukrainian helicopter base. this unit has a dangerous mission. they fly out to attack russian forces, support ukrainian ground troops taking part in the counteroffensive, and then get back here quickly before enemy fighter jets can catch them. >> reporter: the captain is one of the few ukrainian pilots still in the skies flying an aging soviet era helicopter gun ship into combat above his homeland. >> how does it feel to be fighting a full scare war in your own country? this is my duty, this is my task as well as the task of all soldiers, the task of all men, he says. they fly just over the tree line sometimes as low as 15 feet off the ground, hunting for enemy tanks and infantry, and with ammunition desperately short, they try to make sure every bullet counts.

>> can ukraine compete with russia in the air? >> i think, yes, even though we really don't have enough modern equipment for this, he says. modern planes, modern helicopters, but with what we have, we are very successful in completing the task. british military intelligence says russia is reinforcing its attack helicopter fleet at this airfield near the front, which makes ukraine's pleas for american made f-16 fighter jets all the more urgent. it may be months before western aircraft arrive. until then he and fellow pilots from the 18th brigade will make do with what they have, staying in the air and staying in the fight. >> and raf joins me now. raf, amazing. >> reporter: it's pretty extraordinary, andrea, right? extraordinary flying from oleksandr and his fellow pilots. you can see there they are literally taking off from a

field, those aging helicopters are parked on grass. they are being refueled, rearmed. ukrainians keep moving from field to field. they fear if they keep those helicopters, that precious resource of which they don't have very much in a proper military base, the russians will find that base and target and destroy that aircraft with long range missiles. they keep playing this game of cat and mouse with the russians. andrea. >> raf sanchez, thanks very much to you. that does it for a busy week of this edition of "andrea mitchell reports" follow the show online on facebook and twitter @mitchellreports. "chris jansing reports" starts right now. ♪♪ good day, i'm chris jansing live at msnbc headquarters in new york city. it's a mystery with clues two and a half miles below the surface of the sea. the logistics, the stakes, and the costs now going into the multinational effort to figure out what